Climate change victims file complaint against TotalEnergies and its shareholders for “manslaughter” and “endangering others.”

Elisa and William CR, 38 and 28 years old, lost their mother in the floods that swept through the Visubi Valley (Maritime Alpes) in October 2020, during Storm Alex. Benjamin V.B.R., 17, failed to save his girlfriend Rosa from drowning during violent floods that hit Belgium in July 2021. Frank M. survived. From Super Typhoon Ray, one of the most devastating in Philippine history, in December 2021: His house was damaged and he has been suffering from anxiety ever since. Alexandros K. survived. And his family miraculously survived the flames that devastated Greece during the fires and heatwave of the summer of 2021… There are eight of them and they have all suffered bodily from the disasters attributed to climate change. Today, they are demanding that the French company TotalEnergies be held accountable, which, they say, did this “higher responsibility” In global warming.

Together with three civil society organizations (Bloom, Planetary Health Alliance and Nuestro Futuro), they were scheduled to file a complaint against X on Tuesday, May 21, before the judicial court in Paris. Complaint, that the world He was able to consult, targeting four crimes: “manslaughter”, “endangering others”, “failure to combat a disaster” and “attack on biodiversity”. “In the face of global warming, we will not be able to get out of it if the law does not address it to prevent criminal acts.” Acknowledgments Claire Novian, Director General of the NGO Bloom. The date chosen to launch this legal action was not chosen at random: the oil and gas major, which is celebrating its centenary, is scheduled to hold its general assembly on Friday, May 24. Contacted by the worldThe company said on Tuesday that it had not been informed of the complaint.

In the Vesubi Valley, William C.R. It took thirteen days to find his mother's body. “We should not wait until we get hit hard, as I did, to take action against global warming. He explains. TotalEnergies is preparing to launch about fifteen new fossil fuel projects when they should no longer be launched at all; This is beyond comprehension. » according to Scientific studiesWarming increases the frequency and strength of storms like the one that occurred in October 2020. It also favors extreme events such as heat waves, hurricanes, or fires.

Expansion strategy

This is a complaint against…) who alone owns more than a quarter of the group’s capital. During public meetings, they systematically voted in favor of the climate strategy proposed by TotalEnergies and rejected resolutions calling for more ambitious commitments in the fight against global warming. “With this complaint, we want to put the sword of Damocles over the heads of shareholders, three days before the General Assembly, and tell them that they can no longer quietly reject climate-friendly decisions.”Claire Novian insists.

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